Holy Father sees “precious opportunity to build inclusive societies based on respect for human dignity, tolerance, compassion and mercy.”

Also warns the dawn of the Fourth Industrial Revolution brings with it a growing sense that large-scale job loss is inevitable.

In a message read by Cardinal Peter Turkson, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, to participants gathered at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, the Pontiff urged leaders “not to forget the poor” and to see the creation of jobs as an essential part of business leaders’ service to the common good alongside producing wealth and improving the world.

“The present moment offers the world a precious opportunity to guide and govern the transformations associated with the Fourth Industrial Revolution in a way that builds inclusive societies. However, it brings diminished opportunities for employment that also brings with it a responsibility among leaders to create jobs, tackle inequality and help solve society’s complex crisis,” said Pope Francis in his message.

On the risk that the Fourth Industrial revolution poses to labour markets, Pope Francis said: “Clearly there is a need to create new models of doing business that, while promoting the development of advanced technologies, are also capable of using them to create dignified work for all.”

The Pope encouraged leaders to seize the opportunities that the Fourth Industrial Revolution presents:

“The World Economic Forum can become a platform for the defence and protection of creation and for the achievement of a progress which is healthier, more human, more social and more integral.”

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